The City of London is exploding with an exhilarating display of colour and sound each evening from now until 20 February.
The free outdoor show, City Lights, transforms five spaces around the Square Mile with five different installations, namely:
- Imminence by Novak in St Paul's Churchyard (Northside, by Temple Bar)
- Harmonic Portal by Chris Plant at St Mary Aldermary Church
- Colour by Light by Floating Pictures in St Mary le Bow Churchyard Square
- Celestial Brainstorm by Amelia Kosminsky in Bloomberg Public Plaza , Queen Victoria Street
- Keys of Light by Mr.Beam in Guildhall Yard
Each of the installations playfully reimagines the area around them, inviting audiences to interact. Imminence by the artist Novak invites you to reflect on tragedies in the natural world — including deforestation, bee extinction and coral bleaching — as they unfold in moving (literally and emotionally) murals beneath your feet.
Keys of Light by Mr. Beam invites pianists of all ages and calibres (you can still sign up to take part in this particular installation) to constantly shift the colours and patterns being projected onto the front of the Guildhall building, depending on the tone, speed and volume with which they play.
Chris Plant's Harmonic Portal mounts LED light sculptures onto the side of St Mary Aldermary Church, inviting you to explore the three frequencies used by human brains to create colour. This one's accompanied by an ambient soundtrack.
You can get stuck into a little digital graffiti with Colour by Light, an incredibly fun installation, where you're encouraged to use your phone torch to 'paint' the floor outside St Mary le Bow. (This is the nearest you'll get to going awol with a can a spray paint in the City of London, without getting bundled into a police van.)
Or pull on the rope of Celestial Brainstorm, and watch this kinetic sculpture rotate, throwing out mesmerising light forms onto the surrounding area. This installation draws on artist Amelia Kosminsky's personal experience of photosensitive epilepsy.
City Lights runs every evening* (5.30pm to 10pm) from now until 20 February. Admission is free, and there's no need to book. Here's a handy map of all the installations' locations.
*Keys of Light is closed 16 and 17 February.
The show follows an incredibly popular installation in 2021, where faux Northern Lights appeared over City of London landmarks.
